Marauding Reality
by BlackElectric
Summary: *MARAUDER ERA* How do you react when you meet the impossibly handsome 17 year old boy you've been obsessing about for as long as you can remember, especially when you know full well he doesn't really exist? Badly, of course. '"She bit me!" SBxOC
1. The Late Night Wanderings of Padfoot

**...Any girl would be pleased if the Marauder's themselves rescued her from an excruciatingly boring lesson, right? **

**Wrong. Oh so wrong.** Everyone with half a brain knows Hogwarts is straight from the pages of a fiction book, and that includes it's inhabitants.****

**So, just how do you react when you come face to face with the impossibly handsome seventeen year old boy you've been obsessing about for as long as you can remember, when all of your senses are telling you he doesn't really exist. Sirius Black does _not_ exist.**

**Dumbledore says it's all real of course, but who would trust him...?**

**Someone's been marauding with Lucy's reality, it's enough to make her question her sanity.**

* * *

><p><strong>Marauding Reality<strong>

**Chapter one**

**'The Late Night Wanderings of Padfoot'**

"Blithering balderdash"

Somewhere in the Scottish highlands, seventeen year old Sirius Black whispered the password to the portrait of a rather irritated Fat Lady and stepped back into the barely lit Gryffindor Common Room as quietly as possible.

It was after hours, and he had once again spent the night curing his boredom in the hidden objects part of the Room of Requirement. The hidden objects department was one of Sirius's favourites.

He pulled a particularly smelly sock from the arm of his robes with a face of disgust and tossed it carelessly over his shoulder.

"Well, I do declare!" spluttered the Fat Lady, indignant at having a used sock flung in her face.

"Dirty laundry belongs in a hamper" she told him pompously, "not in the face of a distinguished, not to mention attractive painti-" Sirius swung the portrait shut, cutting her off.

"How rude" she muffled, making Sirius snicker to himself.

Students from hundreds of years gone by had hidden their most treasured possessions, and on this occasion their smelliest socks, within the confinements of the hidden room.

And for every somewhat repulsive discovery Sirius made, and sometimes inadvertently brought back with him, there was an equally interesting find just waiting to be discovered.

On more than one occasion he and his friends had used it to hide from the furious caretaker Filch after pulling a prank of some kind.

If only the blasted Filch would get a life of his own and stop trying to scupper theirs. Squib, and general fun sucker Argus Filch had seemed to have it spectacularly in for them since first year. And his feline companion Mrs Norris wasn't much better.

Only recently had Filch confiscated one of their nattier creations and put it Merlin knew where. The Marauder's Map was great for pin pointing the routes to go to avoid trouble, even showing the locations of the many secret passageways hidden within the walls of Hogwarts.

Though Sirius rather felt he had them memorised by now. He had, after all, helped to create the map.

Sirius held his cloak closer to his body, disguising his latest find in the inner pocket. It was a strange looking object he had not seen the likes of before, spotted partially concealed beside a rusty old tiara in the hidden room.

It had looked like an ordinary glass dome at first, attracting him only for a quick glimpse of his own reflection.

But once picked up the touch of his flesh had seemed to trigger something in the curious thing, a hazy image of a rather attractive girl swimming briefly in it's midst, the brunette looking to be around his own age give or take a few years either way. Sirius's attention was grasped.

xXx

Lucy Hamilton wriggled her body, attempting in vain to slouch in her college's 'anti-slouch' plastic chair.

She twisted her slightly over-large ring around her forefinger nonchalantly and vaguely noted the endless drone of her Business tutor begin to melt pleasantly away. Before she knew it she found herself deep inside her favourite daydream.

Lucy was already well-known to her friend's for her tendency to zone out into daydreams, but she would _never_, under any circumstances, tell them what they were about.

This was because, for a while now, Lucy had been almost obsessively daydreaming about the fictional character, Sirius Orion Black.

She knew he didn't really exist. She knew how her friend's would think her absolutely barking if she told them. She even knew that it was wrong on many many levels to be daydreaming about Hogwart's at the ripe old age of seventeen.

And yet, even knowing all of this, she _still_ could not stop herself.

Of course the rest of the Marauders were all there too: James, Remus, even Peter. But she couldn't seem to stop herself from inventing a relationship between Sirius and herself, and the occasionally inappropriate antics they would get up to if only they could meet...

_Lucy looked around herself and found with only mild surprise that she was in the Great Hall. It was night time and the candles were all lit, giving a hazy, romantic feel to the large room ready for the annual Yule Ball._

_She caught a glimpse of her own reflection in one of the decorative gold plates lining the buffet; her long sky blue dress really did look quite beautiful, the ball was going to be amazing._

_Her attention was distracted when she spotted someone come to a stop beside her reflection, and turned to greet him with a smile. Sirius Black was achingly handsome; his long shiny black hair hanging loose by his shoulders. He leaned in close as if to kiss her and-_

A loud cough in the near distance brought Lucy ungraciously back into the room. She cursed inwardly at the culprit.

The inevitable harsh return was the worst part of daydreaming. She would just have to face it, she was not the on/off girlfriend of the fictional teenage Sirius Black, but a student at the utterly un-enchanting Kew College right in the middle of England.

Lucy turned to the person still coughing in the seat next to her and tapped her on back with only a hint of hard feelings. Shell Massey was Lucy's best friend, but her cough certainly knew how to pick its moments.

Glancing briefly at her tutor to make sure he was still wrapped up in what seemed to be a discussion made up of only himself and her know it all classmate Kaylee Cashmore, Lucy brought her head down onto the table with a soft _flunk._

"Shell, could this lesson get any more boring?" she mumbled.

Shell snorted and shook her head in reply.

xXx

Sirius found two of his friends Remus and Peter lounging sleepily on the Common Room arm chairs surrounding the huge fireplace.

Due to the rather cold weather they had been experiencing lately the large fire had been left blazing. Sirius plonked himself down on the old fashioned settee next to his snoozing best friend James, tossing the strange object he had found to an unsuspecting Remus.

"Think fast Moony" he said.

A tired looking Remus Lupin was forced to bolt immediately upright, catching the heavy glass item clumsily to avoid getting thwacked in the face. He shot Sirius an irritated glance.

"May I ask what this is Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded, "You may, and I was rather hoping you might be able to tell me that."

Remus dutifully examined the apparently lifeless item, perplexed. He shrugged. "I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this before."

"Let's see it" James piped up, his attention now peaked at Remus's bamboozlement.

In the end it was decided that the best course of action was unhindered observation of the bizarre object.

So, here they were, three expectant young men knelt on the floor of their Common Room. Their fourth, and more timid, Musketeer Peter flopped ungraciously onto the floor to join his friends.

"Are you absolutely sure you saw a girls face in this Sirius?" Remus asked, looking dubious after five minutes of inactivity.

"Yes of course I am" Sirius replied shortly. "I don't walk around seeing faces everywhere. I'm not a complete raving lunatic Remus."

"Fine, fine." Remus conceded with a sigh.

Sirius reached out to grab the uncooperative object and shook it vigorously. Mutters of "Stupid thing" and "Making me look like a bloody liar" escaping his mouth.

Both Remus and James attempted to snatch it from their friend's destructive fingers. The object was tossed backwards and forwards as each boy tried to stop the other from breaking it.

Peter looked on in impending horror.

Flinging itself high from their grasp, the glass dome seemed to animate itself briefly and fell to the floor with a loud crash, still amazingly intact.

Sirius stared after the object, shocked at it's surge of life. All three boys were panting after their scuffle.

"What in Merlin's beard..." James muttered, as the glass began to fill with an angry black swirling mist, a miniature tornado spinning furiously inside.

"Fetch it, Pete" Sirius instructed, and the fat underdeveloped boy scrambled to his feet, obediently racing over to fetch it back.

He passed it to Sirius and the dark haired boy held it in his hands, watching as the mist cleared and an image of a long modern table emerged.

On each of the chairs surrounding it were girls, most of them slumped in boredom.

Down one end of the table a large girl talked self-importantly to an older man who seemed to be in charge of the group. It looked nothing like what might be found within the walls of Hogwarts.

James's eyebrows knitted together, "I think it's a school."

Suddenly the four Marauders became aware of a disturbance in the originally serene scene.

The image of the older man they had presumed to be the teacher had singled out one of the girls. He seemed to be asking her a question, but did not look at all pleased.

As the object showed them a shimmering close up of the unfortunate girl's face the realisation hit Sirius.

"That's her!" he pointed, unable to believe his eyes. "That's the girl I saw earlier. So much for her being a figment of my imagination, eh Remus?" he cocked an arrogant eyebrow, but Remus only flickered his eyes in response.

The girl's face stared back at her tutor like a deer trapped in the headlights, and the older man's head seemed it would explode from rage at her lack of knowledge in his classroom.

Just like the Marauders the rest of her class were now watching the uncomfortable exchange intently.

James and Sirius glanced at one another. They had both been on the receiving end of a teachers surprise questioning before, and it wasn't pleasant. It usually occurred during a last-minute prank planning that had spilled over into lesson time; apparently McGonagall wasn't too fond of pranks, especially those formed while she was trying to teach.

The image of the teacher's face had now begun to turn an uncommon shade of beetroot as he continued to glare at the girl. Sirius marveled inwardly at how any one person could look so like a vegetable.

"We should do something" he stated impulsively.

Remus looked back at him, incredulous. "You have got to be joking Sirius?" he said. "We don't even know when this scene occurred; if it's little more than a memory, even. Besides," Remus continued, "who knows what will happen if we try to interfere?"

"Merlin Moony you can be such a bore" Sirius replied, his expression disgusted at his friend's lack of spirit.

"We could end up making it worse" Remus shrugged.

Holding the scene in the palms of his hands Sirius watched it intently as if searching for a solution in its depths.

Frustrated, he let it clatter to the floor. He had been so close to an answer, but it had seemed to evade him at the last minute.

A deafening crash from their upstairs chamber made each of the boys jump slightly, Peter nearly flying out of his skin.

"What was that?" he squeaked, terrified.

Sirius looked up toward the source of the noise. "I have no idea" he muttered.

Getting to their feet they left the now lifeless dome from the Room of Requirement discarded on the floor, and made their way toward the staircase cautiously to investigate.


	2. Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?

**Chapter 2**

**'Who's been sleeping in my bed?'**

Sirius led the way as Padfoot, feeling that if something were amiss it would most likely be safer to be there as a dog.

Peter followed also in his Animagi form, the rat, and Remus and James flagged the pair in their human forms.

James had already decided that his animagi alter ego, the giant stag, wouldn't be nearly as stealthy clattering around the castle as it was amongst the trees in the forest outside.

James lit his wand, and Remus followed suit, each holding it aloft.

As Padfoot reached the door of the boys' dormitory he stole a look around the edge of the large, heavy wooden door.

Everything was exactly the way they had left it that morning.

Delving further into the room, Sirius attempted to be as quiet as possible and used his canine instincts to stay alert to his surroundings. But it was for nothing; the room was definitely empty.

Nonplussed Padfoot turned to his friends, an action that would have included a bemused shrug if he was in his human form.

Looking into their faces he was surprised to find Remus's eyes wide with what appeared to be fright, and Sirius forced with all his might to turn on the more human instinct of expression reading. Perhaps Remus was merely straining to see in the dark.

He turned instead to James, who's expression was very similar, except James's mouth seemed to be agape. Peter let out a quiet squeak to his left.

Sirius knew the pitch of that squeak like the back of his hand, he had heard it many times when his friend Remus lost control during his monthly transformations into a werewolf; something in their current room had Peter terrified.

The large black dog double checked the room, a foreboding filling his stomach. His heart gave a start as he finally spotted what had his friends so engrossed.

Running all along the centre of his bed was a large bulging lump. Something, or worryingly someone, was hiding amongst his sheets.

xXx

Sirius was gobsmacked. He did not remember leaving anything of that size in it when he had left the bed that morning.

He had taken something out of the bed with him that size, Sirius thought cockily, but he most definitely had not left _that_ behind.

Using his soft furry feet he began to pad bravely over to the ominous lump.

A silly temptation to turn and bound out of the room fought its way into his head, but he sensed his friend James behind him and it spurred him onwards. Grasping the corner of the blankets between his teeth, he pulled them back in one swift motion.

A strange figure lay awkwardly across his bed, it's unmoving body giving the impression of unconsciousness.

The Marauder's mouths gaped simultaneously. "_What the…" _Remus uttered, aghast.

Waves of thick, dark hair smothered the pillow Sirius's own head usually rested on. The face attached to it obscured by the seemingly endless stream. The creature seemed to be nothing more than a long lump a-topped with a mass of hair.

Sirius lowered his head and pulled the blankets down the rest of the way; a fully dressed body emerged. Judging from the clothes the stranger wore, not to mention the telltale shape of the figure, Sirius was almost certain it was a girl.

The big black dog just had time to take a step back before the body stirred and pushed itself up into a seated position. A pale, slender hand seemed to emerge from nowhere, and swept the long hair back from her face.

Dark green eyes flickered open, and peered at the large brute of a dog groggily.

The girl blinked once, twice, three times at him, before the distinct scent of fear drifted to Sirius canine nostrils.

Sirius glanced back at his three friends, but they were unresponsive, staring at the strange girl as if she would spontaneously combust.

The terrified girl shook her head slowly, a furrow forming in between her brows. Her lips moved as if to form words, but none came out.

Sirius tried to step forward reassuringly and wagged his tail to show they meant no harm, but the girl did not seem to see his passive intent. The four Marauders looked on in horror as a scream began to escape the brunette's mouth.

James was the first to react, stepping forward with the agility of a cat to cover her mouth with his large palm.

One scream from her and they were all in more trouble than than they could shake a stick at. A girl in the boy's dorm would not be looked on as moral behaviour by the teaching staff.

James quickly realised his mistake, however, when he felt a sharp sting on the inside of his hand. "She bit me!" he exclaimed in shock, nursing his poor red palm.

Sirius didn't know why or how it had happened, but the girl with her teeth currently closed around his friend's hand was the same one they had seen not ten minutes before in the strange glass dome.

He knew they had interfered with reality, and he knew without looking that Remus's eyes were now boring judgmentally into his broad furry back.

xXx

Without warning the girl was up like a lightning shock, making use of the brief distraction from her toothy violence to make good her escape. She didn't know who these people were, or how she had ended up there, but she did not want to stick around to find out.

The boys looked at one another in panic, they couldn't just let her go running about the castle at night.

Sirius took it as his cue, bounding forwards and knocking the girl to the floor, pinning her under his immense weight. The girl writhed underneath him like a wild cat trying to fight it's way to freedom, and it took all his willpower to stop his natural canine instincts from kicking in. He didn't want to hurt the girl.

Remus walked slowly over to the struggling young woman, his hands raised in a soothing pose. "We're not going to hurt you" he told her calmly "there's really no need to be afraid."

The girl paused her struggle and looked back at the sandy haired young man warily.

Remus let out a breath in relief. "Now if we let you get up, will you promise in return not to run away?" he asked. "It's really not safe to be wondering around the castle at night..."

"Please?" Peter added in a small voice, looking nervously at her as if she would rush over and claw his eyes out.

The pale girl looked around at the three boys and more notably at the large dog currently crippling her limbs. It wasn't as if she really had a choice but to conform, so with a small nod of her head she muttered a reluctant "Fine". As promised Padfoot obediently lifted off his weight and moved a safe distance away.

Remus helped the girl up and guided her back to the bed. "Now that we've cleared that up" he said "we can introduce ourselves properly."

He made a show of offering his hand and smiled affably, "I'm Remus. What's your name?"

The girl looked back into his eyes, noting how alike in colour they were to the darkest part of the ocean. They were calming, and yet somehow terrifying at the same time, as if they held a dark secret.

Feeling as though she was being hypnotised by him, she allowed Remus to take her hand in his and shake it loosely. His hands were very hot.

"Lucy" she replied in a half whisper, her voice apparently lost.

"Where am I?" she continued in a half voice she could not seem to control.

Each of the boys now looked away and avoided her eye contact, all four of them looking a little sheepish.

Lucy looked around examining the place. It looked old. Really old. Hadn't the boy they called Remus mentioned the word 'castle'? This dream was her strangest yet, the lucidity of it almost frightening.

Lucy glanced warily at the jet black dog that had previously knocked her to the floor. It was humongous, bigger than any dog she had ever seen before. It's size rivalled a great dane and yet it looked more like a wolf-dog halfbreed.

"He's really not that bad when you get to know him" Remus laughed, noticing Lucy's gaze. The wolf-dog barked in agreement.

"Wow. Clever" Lucy admitted, impressed by it's understanding.

"Oh no" James assured her genially. "He just likes to bark... a lot. If ever there was a dog that liked the sound of it's own voice it would be this big goo-head."

The dog let out a low murmur of a growl and the glasses boy grabbed it's head playfully, it gnashed back at his hands playfully.

Remus and Peter laughed at what looked like an inside joke. "Fair enough" Lucy said, half-smiling.

She reached out a tentative hand towards it's glossy coat and Padfoot complied, walking slowly towards her outstretched arm. Lucy stroked her hand over the dog's long fur around his neck, feeling calmer as she ran her fingers through the soft hair. It was like stroking a cuddly toy.

"What's your name then boy?" she asked.

Padfoot barked again as if in answer. Lucy raised her eyebrows, "Are you sure he can't understand me?" she asked with a laugh.

"His name's Padfoot" Peter interrupted nervously.

Lucy looked over at the small boy that had spoken causing a blush to spread across his cheeks, "Padfoot?" she said.

She looked back at the dog "Who's a good boy then, Padfoot?" she murmured, stroking what she thought was an ordinary hound. "You are. Yes you are."

Padfoot's tail wagged hard. James rolled his eyes at his friend, Sirius was clearly having far too much fun at the poor girl's expense.

"You're making a fool out of yourself, _Padfoot_" he muttered through a gritted smile, grabbing the dog forcibly around the waist and practically dragging him away.

"Maybe we should talk more about how you got, Lucy" Remus said with a smile, quickly changing the subject.

Lucy shrugged, still focusing her attention on the strange big dog. "One minute I was in my Business lecture with my head on the desk, next minute I'm here. Maybe I'm dreaming?" she half-joked, though it was really the only explanation.

James looked up at her, "You honestly think we're a dream?" he asked, his eyebrow raised. "Do you often have dreams about three, well, two impossibly good looking men, a boy called Peter and a black dog?"

Lucy felt silly. "No..." she replied. Her dreams always focused around Sirius, and to her eyes he was nowhere to be seen. "But how else do you explain it?" she demanded.

"It's magic" Peter said as if it were obvious, before quickly blushing again.

"Magic?" she said sarcastically.

"Well we are in Wizarding school" Remus stated as if it were obvious. "Surely it's not much of a stretch to assume you travelled here via some kind of pocus."

Lucy snorted. They were clearly having her on. "If this is a magic school... then _he's_ Dumbledore." She gestured at Peter.

Peter didn't seem to get the irony. "No, I'm Pete" he piped in "Dumbledore's our headmaster"

Lucy's eyebrows knitted together. "Dumbledore's your headmaster?" she repeated. "So what you're actually trying to tell me is that this is _Hogwart's_?"

"Yes" the three boys chorused. Padfoot barked.

"How do you know it?" James asked her curiously. "Do you go to Beauxbaton's or something?"

Lucy rubbed her head. She must have hit it harder than she realised.

The boys tried to fill her in about the glass dome, and the weird swirling mist followed by her sudden appearance, but Lucy was not really registering.

Alarm bells had started ringing in her mind, tolling at an almost unbearable pitch.

They continued, relentless and deafening, as she looked around again at the three people surrounding her called Remus and Peter, and the messy haired boy who had yet to tell her his name, only now really seeing them for who they were.

And then the big black dog caught her attention, and all of a sudden the ringing stopped dead, until she could hear nothing at all.

He looked back at her curiously through his light grey eyes, his head cocking to one side.

The urge to slip into unconsciousness overwhelmed her as she realised just who lurked behind it's gaze. She had _stroked_ Sirius Black.

xXx

Everything looked different to how Lucy usually imagined them; Hogwart's, the Marauders, even Padfoot.

If she really was in an elaborate dream, then why did it all look so different... and what other explanation could there be?

In previous daydreams she would always be the one to forewarn the Marauders of Peter's ultimate betrayal, and effectively save the day.

But this one was just so realistic that she was worried her doing so would bring it to an abrupt end, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Especially before she had seen what Sirius looked like as a human. Considering the fact that both James and Remus were a lot better looking than her mind usually imagined them, she had high hopes for their canine friend.

She could forego being the brilliant heroine of the tale just this once. Besides, despite what James had said, she knew none of them could actually be real, so what would be the point?


	3. Lily

**A/N: This chapter is for falleninyourarms, because you are a lunatic... ;)**

**Chapter 3**

**'Lily'**

James led the way into a large, but cosy room. The fireplace in the middle of the opposite wall provided the only light in the common room. Outside the stars shone brightly even though it had been daytime in Lucy's world.

Sirius had still not shown himself in human form and she couldn't understand what he was waiting for.

Padfoot craned his neck and sniffed the floor, locating the discarded dome and nudged it with his nose for James to pick up.

James grimaced when he felt his fingers land in something Sirius's damp canine snout had left on the glass. He scrunched up his nose and wiped the snot on Peter's back. "Ewww!" Peter exclaimed in his high pitched voice.

Lucy held the incomplete crystal ball in her hands finding it hard to believe the boys when they told her she had been transported through it, though she imagined she could feel the almost imperceivable vibrations of power coursing through it.

Sat just a foot away Sirius was becoming impatient. The lack of input his dog form allowed him was intolerable and without so much as a yap of warning Padfoot trotted from the room.

xXx

Five minutes later Sirius Black strolled back through the portrait on a pair of very human legs.

Lucy had been occupied with her examination of the glass and had not noticed the dog's disappearance until two rather large black shoes appeared at the floor directly in front of her.

She vaguely noted their neat laces as James said "Hey Sirius".

Lucy let her gaze roam upward, past the long legs in dark trousers, past the flat abdomen hidden beneath a shirt, and finally up to the mouth she faintly heard say to her "Hello".

Her eyes finally fell on his face. Sirius the human was unreasonably good looking.

She felt the seat dip next to her and realised the shoes had moved. As they did the waft of cologne was strong, but intoxicating.

"I'm Sirius" he said, looking at her now from his seat on the couch next to her. He held out his hand, "And you are?"

Sirius's voice was more mature than Lucy had been expecting.

She faltered a second before trying to recover herself; of course he had to pretend they had never met.

She felt an undeniable thrill pass through her body as he grasped her hand in his. It was warm and surprisingly solid for a dream.

"I'm Lucy" she answered, feeling an uncontrollable blush creep onto her face.

"Sirius here was the one who spotted you in the vision" James stated.

As the other three boys began the pretence of filling their absent friend in on what he'd missed Lucy took the opportunity to discreetly survey Sirius's appearance properly. He looked nothing like the way she usually imagined him.

Black's eyes were a shade of grey she had never seen before, his face set in an expression that seemed permanently in good humour.

His tan looked like the kind an avid sportsman gets, and his dark straight hair fell down at the front just skimming his eyes, the back cropped short to the shape of his head.

She watched him as he flicked his head slightly to clear the hair from his vision, like something one would see in slow motion in a film. Lucy felt a small part of her insides melt a little.

xXx

"And then Snivellus nearly messed in his knickers right there and then when-" James's grin relaxed into a genuine smile as halted the story he and his friend's had been telling Lucy about their Slytherin enemy, his attention distracted by something on the other side of the room.

Lucy thought she heard Peter let out an almost inaudible groan of displeasure and soon spotted the cause of Peter's irritation.

A flash of dark red walked directly toward them and she found herself looking at the seventeen-year-old Lily Evans for the first time. There was no doubt about it, she was extremely pretty.

"You lot should be upstairs you know" Lily chastised only half seriously. "Only Heads are supposed to patrolling at this time."

She lowered herself onto James lap and sighed sleepily. "It's been a long day."

When nobody spoke Lily glanced around questioningly at the awkwardly silent boys, before finally noticing Lucy. The redhead straightened up quickly, "Erm, hello. Sorry, I didn't see you there"

Lily looked at Sirius meaningfully, "Friend of yours?" she murmured.

Sirius smirked, "Something like that."

Lily looked back at the other girl and smiled amiably, "I'm Lily. I apologise for their rudeness in not introducing us sooner. I don't think we've met before." She gave James a pointed look.

"What?"James replied defensively. "You said you were tired..."

Lucy smiled back at her, "I'm Lucy. No, we wouldn't have met because-"

A tingle of surprise ran down the length of her arm and she quickly realised that Sirius had grasped it. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, his warm hand still resting on her lower arm.

"Lucy here is a visitor from Beauxbatons" he told Lily. The lie streamed neatly from his mouth, as if he had rehearsed it. "They're doing a 'week in the life of' with Hogwarts" he explained.

"Oh." Lily replied, "Well that's the first I'd heard of it" she said, looking a little put out.. "I hope you like it here so far Lucy...and the boys aren't being too grotesque" she finished with a smile.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "Me? Grotesque? I'm practically an angel."

Lily scoffed "I'll find out the truth from Lucy. You are staying in the head dormitory tonight, aren't you?" she asked her.

"Dumbledore has given her Simon's bed for the night" Sirius cut in again. "He's in the hospital wing with a nasty hex at the moment."

Lily looked unconvinced. "Dumbledore gave her a bed in the boys dormitory?"

"There are no spare beds in the girls, Lily" Sirius replied. "Couldn't have her sleeping on the floor, could he?"

Lily gave a dubious look before addressing Lucy directly. "Listen, if any of them try anything tonight -or you just get sick of the rancid smell- you're more than welcome to come and join me."

"I'm off to bed you guys" she continued, rising to her feet. "Nice meeting you Lucy. Coming James?"

"Yeah" he said, feigning a loud yawn. "I'm beat. See you boys tomorrow morning." With that he shot a mischievous wink over his shoulder and jogged after her up to the Heads Dormitory.

Something told Lucy the offer to share the red heads room had just been made redundant.

xXx

With James gone, Remus and Peter soon followed in their footsteps up to bed. Peter did not like to remain long where James was not and Remus was just plain tired. It had been what felt like a _very_ long day.

Lucy had remained behind, unsure of exactly where her bed for the night would be. She couldn't sleep in the boy's dormitory, regardless of what Sirius had said.

Sirius leaned back and stared toward the fire, the mood between the two of them erring on the awkward side. They did not really know one another after all, they had all been tossed into a very strange circumstance.

Lucy found her gaze drawn to Sirius' face. He truly was one of the most handsome people she felt she had ever laid her eyes on. And the realism of him; of his skin and hair was intense. This dream felt so different to her other's somehow.

Just then her point of focus glanced up unexpectedly and Lucy was forced to look away, feeling a flush of embarrassment.

But Sirius leant toward her, his eyes gently pulling her gaze back toward him. "Hi" he said, his voice charming. A repressed smile played on his lips at having caught her staring. "We haven't really had a chance to get to know one another, have we?"

Lucy pressed her lips together briefly, inexplicably feeling as though she were about to let out a burst of laughter.

"No, I suppose not" she replied, glancing without thinking at Sirius's perfect lips. His stare seemed to try and penetrate her thoughts.

Finally Lucy let out a quiet breath. "I'm kind of tired," she said, not at all sleepy, but feeling she had to break the tension that had somehow developed.

Sirius nodded. "Of course." he replied. "Come on, I'll take you to bed."

* * *

><p><em>AN: I love writing Sirius. Review please?_


	4. Temptation

**Chapter 4**

**'Temptation'**

Sirius led Lucy quietly up the darkened staircase to the boy's dormitory, fully aware that if they were caught it could very well mean the end of his school career.

Not only had he blatantly lied to the Head Girl, not to mention the love of his best friend's life; Lily Evans about where the new girl would be sleeping, as of yet the school headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, had no idea of her very existence.

And as for his Head of House, Professor McGonagall's reaction; Sirius very much believed that if McGonagall knew a _girl_ would be sleeping in the seventh year boy's dorm, her tightly wound bun would pop itself from her head like a cork and release a tumult of spectacular fireworks.

But Sirius had been given no other option than to lie his way out of the awkward situation. To allow a confused Muggle to wonder her way around Hogwarts would be worse than any punishment that could be thrown at him should he get caught.

For now at least Lucy would have to sleep underneath his watchful grey eye.

Sirius had been told earlier that day that his fellow Gryffindor, Simon Hallow, had recently vacated his bed after being on the receiving end of a well aimed Slytherin curse.

Simon had been rushed to the Hospital Wing and was apparently going to be there quite a while so the new school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, could rid his body of the masses of frogs boils erupting all over it.

Besides, Sirius didn't think Simon would mind _too_ much having a not altogether unattractive girl borrow his bed for a while.

As Sirius creaked open the large door as quietly as he could muster, he felt a hand grasp his shirt from behind. His body convulsed reflexively, before he realised it was only a rather nervous looking Lucy, her expression distracted.

He looked back at the dark haired girl, only now realising how different Hogwarts must be for her compared to her usual safe, and in his opinion dull, Muggle surroundings. Sirius placed a tentative hand on her arm, trying to reassure her, but it only seemed to snap her sharply out of her reverie.

Their eyes met briefly at the top of the shadowy stairs before Sirius looked away, leading her into the bedroom.

The blankets of Simon's bed moved gently up and down in silent breaths, tufts of his bright blond hair showing just above his woollen blanket. There was no doubting his presence.

Sirius cursed under his breath.

"I'll sleep on the floor tonight" he whispered to Lucy, the reluctance just audible in his voice as he glanced at the hard stone floor; it did not look particularly inviting. "Take my bed" he said.

The spare duvet and pillow was dragged down from the top of his wardrobe as Sirius silently started to lay them out in a make-shift bed on the floor.

"Thanks" Lucy replied. "Take your bed if you want though, I don't mind" she said, fully aware that she most certainly _did_ mind.

"It's fine" Sirius dismissed without looking up. "This was partly my fault I suppose."

He rifled through the trunk at the bottom of his bed.

"Here, you can borrow this for tonight. I've only worn it a couple of times... Hope you don't mind" he added glancing up at Lucy, the corner of his mouth tugging upward.

He tossed her a black t shirt, a logo from his favourite Wizarding band 'The Fiery Phoenix' emblazoned on the front.

Lucy caught the offered top, looking at the brightly coloured image reflected in the dim light. Sirius nodded to a small doorway next to them. "You can get dressed in there...if you want" he added.

Once in the bathroom Lucy underdressed quickly, pulling the large t-shirt over her head. She could not help but take a moment to inhale the the smell of the already worn material.

It had a distinctively masculine smell, a dense layer of aftershave still clinging to the dark cotton. Lucy dropped the material from her face, breathing out sharply; she was allowing herself to enjoy this fantasy of hers far too much.

Dressed in Black's thigh length t-shirt Lucy reached out for the peeling metal doorknob of the bathroom, double taking at her hand. It wasn't the week old purple nail varnish that caught her eye- her grandmother's ornate silver ring was gone.

Lucy's breath caught, she had most definitely had it during her class back at home.

That ring had been one of the few things her grandmother had given her before her death seven years ago, telling the ten-year-old Lucy a tall tale about it containing 'magical powers'.

Lucy knew deep down it was just an ordinary heirloom, but magical or no it's legacy was priceless. She cursed her own stubborness; if she hadn't insisted on wearing it despite its ill fit it would never have gotten lost.

xXx

Back in the boy's dormitory, Sirius finished his careless arranging of his spare duvet on the floor and gave his wand a quick shake, extinguishing the light on the tip. He tossed back the first, thinner blanket and climbed in.

It was very rare Sirius wore anything but a pair of loose shorts to bed, preferring the freedom semi-nakedness gave to his movements.

If left to his own devices he would probably go as far as ridding his body of clothing altogether, but the other boys in his sleeping quarters had forcefully protested the last time he had tried. To this day Remus professed his poor tortured corneas would never be the same again.

Now, however, Sirius was starting to regret his habit. A shiver threatened it's way up his bare back and he sturdied himself against it. It was as if the cold stone floor was seeping it's way through the blankets into his bare skin.

Sirius watched as Lucy's slim white legs stepped carefully over him into bed and braced himself should she topple on him in the process. He had to resist a smirk; his t-shirt was clearly far too big for her.

Once she was safely in bed he turned onto his side and curled up against the cold. If only James could see him now.

As Lucy settled into the bed, she tried to forget the loss of her grandmothers ring and drift to sleep. The sheets felt and smelled used, but it wasn't unpleasant by any means. Taking a deep breath and release she tried to clear her mind.

A scuffling noise from the floor next to the bed caught her attention and she quickly realised it was Sirius shifting uncomfortably. The idea that he probably couldn't wait for her to leave so he could reclaim his bed gripped her stomach uneasily.

She stole a quick glance over the side but found his face shrouded in shadow, the only shred of light illuminating the area of the blankets covering his long legs.

After hearing Sirius grunt and shift for the fifth time in ten minutes Lucy found she could stand it no longer. Temporarily forgetting that she did not really know this Sirius Black at all, not to mention how undoubtably awkward it would be in the morning, Lucy reached down with a tentative finger and tapped the black haired boy's horizontal form.

Seeming to awake from a daze he peered questioningly up at her, "Hmm?" he murmured sleepily.

Sirius watched as his strange new acquaintance lifted the covers back without a word and motioned for him to get in.

At first he lay still, shocked by her offer, but after a moments deliberation he threw back his own covers and quietly extracted himself.

"Thanks" he muttered, settling himself down into the bed, his shin brushing against Lucy's bare leg. He shifted uncomfortably as familiar tingle ran its way down past his belly button.

"You're welcome" she whispered and turned to put her back to him.

With a careful hand Sirius moved the length of her hair that had flung itself around his face with her movement, fighting the urge to spoon her body.

Instead he rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his head, finally drifting to sleep.

xXx

A deep, low whistle resonated through the air and Lucy felt herself awake with a start. The deafening noise seemed to echo itself around the castle walls.

The events of the night before swimming into her mind.

Had it really been all a dream?

Trying desperately to un-squint her eyes and focus against the blindingly bright light that now filled the room, Lucy shifted onto her back. There seemed to be numerous people surrounding her bed. They were all mumbling but Lucy couldn't pick up on what they were saying.

Then it dawned on her. She was in hospital. An accident would explain everything- the visions of Hogwarts she had been having, her apparent time travelling, everything.

She hardly dared to ask the dreaded question, but found herself voicing it anyway, "What's happened? Where am I?" she asked, feeling groggy.

Her eyes were still refusing to cooperate, but a male voice to her immediate right answered her.

It seemed to be _amused_. "Well I should hope _you_ know" it answered, "otherwise Sirius here has got some serious explaining to do." There was laughter now.

"Sirius?" Lucy repeated.

Something stirred to her left hand side. Whatever it was, it was sharing her bed. It seemed to turn itself around to face her. "Yeah?" it replied.

Lucy's heart leapt as Sirius looked back at her sleepily, absent mindedly scratching the back of his head.

She could see now that Remus stood to the left hand side, an embarrassed smile on his face. At the bottom of her bed Peter's watery eyes darted from James back to herself and Sirius.

From his current position Lucy realised James had been the one to answer her earlier, and the owner of the deafening whistle. His face seemed to be set in one big huge smirk, one eyebrow raised so high that it almost joined his hairline.

Finally buckling underneath the many stares Lucy reached out a fumbling hand for her clothes left folded on the floor from the previous night. She quickly grabbed them under her arm and got up, power walking to the bathroom. She fixed her gaze firmly on the door.

Three pairs of eyes followed her path before returning to Sirius still lying in the bed. He groaned and pulled the covers over his head. "Go away" he moaned. James laughed loudly, "You can't honestly expect us to let this one slide" he said, grinning down at the lump that was his friend.

"Unfortunately Prongs is right Sirius, this _is_ too good an opportunity to let go without a single taunt" Remus shook his head smiling. It was just like Sirius to make a move on the new girl.

Sirius threw the covers down. "Fine, but be quiet about it will you?"

"Ha ha ha!" James boomed twice as loud as usual, causing everyone to wince. "I didn't know you had it in you, you sly dog!" James continued loudly.

Peter made a furious attempt to catch James' eye and share a mutual laugh, but James was too preoccupied with mocking his best friend.

"Well I hate to break it to you all-" Sirius stated, clearly moody from lack of sleep, "Nothing happened. We shared a bed because Simon was still in his and I couldn't get to sleep on the damned floor, end of story. Where is Simon anyway? I thought he was supposed to be in the hospital wing."

"What can I say, Pomfrey works wonders" James laughed.

xXx

Lucy pulled on her black jeans hurriedly, she could hear the immense laughter practically bursting through the cracks in the bathroom door.

She looked at herself in the mirror, trying to regain some form of composure. Her breathing was ragged and unstable- the dream should have ended by now, she was supposed to be curled up safely in her own bed, back where she belonged in the Muggle world. Everything about her current situation screamed insanity.

Taking a deep breath she re-opened the bathroom door.

Upon entering the room however, the four boys were nowhere to be seen. Instead one ancient-looking man had seated himself on the bed she had exited not ten minutes before, looking calmly over at her.

"So, Miss Hamilton" he said. "We finally meet." The old man peered over his half moon glasses with an expression so hard to read she found it impossible to discern if it was annoyance or amusement.

"Yes, I'm Lucy" Lucy answered puzzled at the man's sudden appearance in the room.

A second passed between them, almost as if the mysterious old man was waiting for something to happen. Perhaps waiting for Lucy to do something?

Her brow knitted slightly as she studied his patient face, the old man's long grey beard and hair trailing down onto his pale blue robes_. _"Dumbledore-?" she questioned hesitantly.

No sooner had she said this, the man smiled, "Professor if you please. Now, the boys have told me all that they know of how you came to be here my dear. It was a rather, how do you say it?… Ah yes, 'lucky break' on your part, was it not?"

Lucy remembered her class and questioning tutor and nodded, wondering how he could remain so calm about it. She felt something bubble inside of her at her own loss for answers.

"If you have the answer to why I'm here then you have to tell me" she urged, speaking more forcefully than she had intended.

But Dumbledore remained serene. "If you would remain calm Miss Hamilton, I shall tell you my theory."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Very sorry for the slight delay in updates. I have unfortunately had my very first case of tonsillitis, and have been finding it nigh on impossible to eat and drink let alone update my fanfiction. Who knew it would hurt so much! So anyway, Dumbledore is officially 'in the loop'. He will have quite a few _interesting _things to tell her both about herself and how she really came to be at Hogwarts, and he will will make her an offer she can't refuse.

Thank you so much for your reviews, they really make me smile!


	5. Professor Dumbledore to you

**Chapter 5**

**'_Professor_ Dumbledore to you'**

Lucy did not remain calm, but she obediently internalised her turmoil, waiting for the fictional Dumbledore to give her some answers.

"At this moment I cannot tell you much" Dumbledore continued, still seated with a frustratingly serene aura.

"Though it shames me to admit, I am, as of yet, rather in the dark myself about the whys and wherefores of how exactly you came to be here.

"I can only say that I believe your arrival may have been triggered not only by the glass dome _stumbled_ upon" Dumbledore cleared his throat "by Mr Black, but also by something you were holding, or even wearing, at the time in question. It was this item that the glass Clementrice -as it is referred to in some texts- formed a fleeting, but powerful, connection with. I believe it was this connection that brought you into Hogwarts.

"Oh, and not forgetting the help from our four young students of course" he added with a smile.

"The Marauders?" Lucy questioned.

Dumbledore lifted his head a little. "It is my belief that the boys did indeed help to bring you here, Miss Hamilton. Whilst wishful thinking is perhaps not the safest path through which to live ones life, it is undoubtedly a powerful commodity."

Lucy narrowed her eyes trying to decipher Dumbledore's cryptic reply. "They wished me here?" she finally questioned.

"You are correct, Miss Hamilton" Professor Dumbledore smiled pleasantly. "...It is a pity you possess no magical powers my dear" he commented as a side note, "I rather think you would make a adept young witch. Now, I'm afraid I have some bad news to share" he continued, his smile fading.

"Please take a seat" he gestured to an unoccupied area of the bed next to him. Lucy reluctantly obeyed.

"As we already know" Dumbledore continued, "the Clementrice formed a connection with something you were holding at the time of your travel here, allowing you to pass through to an otherwise unreachable dimension.

"What I am yet to discover however, is how, or if, this connection can be re-activated. Not knowing what it was on your person that the Clementrice formed a connection with, makes it rather difficult to perform any solid theorising."

At that moment Lucy's daydream hit reality with a harsh thud. "Are you telling me I can't get home?" she asked slowly.

"Try not to worry, Lucy" Dumbledore replied, clearly trying to lift the impending sense of doom. "Rest assured we will find a way for you to return to your world, somehow."

He rose from the bed now and made his way to the door.

"In the meantime, I suggest you make the most out of your time here. You never know, you might just find you enjoy yourself..."

Lucy thoughts flittered back to the night before spent in Sirius's bed and felt her face grow warm.

"If you so desire it I could make an arrangement with the staff for you to sit in amongst seventh year lessons, I would of course ensure you shadowed a trusted student at all times" Dumbledore continued. "You could be just like any other student of Hogwarts."

Lucy interrupted him, "Professor, I'm Muggle born. How can I sit in on lessons when I don't even have magical powers?"

"Since when has being Muggle born affected a persons magical abilities?"

Lucy looked back at him as if he had spontaneously tried to eat his hat. "I've _never_ had powers. I'm 17..."

Dumbledore peered back at her over his glasses. "Have you ever been transported through a magical object before?" he asked calmly.

"No..." Lucy conceded, wondering what that had to do with the price of bread.

"There then" Dumbledore replied. "My point is that there must be a first time for everything. I presume you have never been presented with a wand before?"

"You'd presume right" Lucy replied, now seriously questioning the headmasters sanity.

"Well, how do you know you don't have abilities?"

Lucy looked at him disbelievingly. A thought shot briefly through her mind; didn't wizards and witches show signs of having magical abilities early on in life, even without a wand?

"There have been rare cases that support the opposite" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

Lucy could have sworn she had not voiced that question. She was beginning to have the worrying impression Dumbledore could read minds.

"I will speak to the staff regarding your involvement in lessons and notify you as soon as I have word" Dumbledore smiled warmly.

"If you wish it, I could even arrange a Sorting for you. I take it you know what that is?" Lucy nodded silently so Dumbledore carried on, "perhaps that would make you feel more at ease here. It may also make the students more ready to accept your sudden presence."

Lucy wondered why Dumbledore should presume she knew about the Sorting Hat, was he aware of the surreal fact that Hogwarts existed in an apparently fictional form in her world? She decided not to voice this however because, strangely, she couldn't think of a sensible way to ask it.

"Professor-" Lucy started, a thought crossing her mind. "What day is it?" She wondered how long she would have to decide before lessons started.

"What day was it when you arrived here Miss Hamilton?"

"Well it was Monday morning in my world, but it was night time when I got here, so I wondered if the day had changed as well-"

"Today is Saturday, which would indicate that you arrived here Friday evening our time."

Dumbledore opened the door to leave "Oh, one more thing" he said, turning back to her. "I personally have _never_ had the pleasure of experienced a dream as realistic as this... have you?"

He looked back at her, a challenging glint in his eye.

Lucy had to admit, things were starting to seem more frighteningly real by the minute.

xXx

Feeling numb, Lucy watched Dumbledore's long powder blue robes retreat from the boys' dormitory.

She wasn't aware of how long she had spent sat on the bed afterward, trying to process all he had said. Minutes, hours even?

The situation he had described was just so absurd_. _The idea of travelling through a portal connected to a magical world was straight from the pages of a fiction book, which coincidently so was Hogwarts.

Lucy's head snapped up at the noise of the Dormitory door opening.

Sirius stepped through the door, avoiding Lucy's eye contact as he walked over to the bed next to hers and sat down, purposefully keeping distance between them after their night spent together.

They barely knew one another and yet they had shared a bed. The thought made Lucy's insides cringe.

"So, what did Dumbledore say?" Sirius asked after an uncomfortable silence.

Lucy glanced up at him. This was the first time Lucy had seen Sirius in daylight and he was even more impossibly perfect than the night before, but then, she thought, she was probably biased.

"He told me I wasn't dreaming" she replied, startled by her own voice.

Sirius looked confused for a second. "Let me get this straight, you still thought this was all a dream, that _we_ were all a dream?"

He shook his head and snorted. "You must have a _really_ good imagination" he said.

Sirius sighed and stood suddenly, seating himself on the bed next to her. "Listen, Lucy isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah..." Lucy replied, surprised by his sudden change of mood and feeling a little put out that he'd had to confirm her name.

"I think that we can both agree that this situation isn't what you'd call normal" he said "and I wanted to tell you you needn't feel awkward about last night-"

"Neither should you" she cut in defiantly.

Sirius's mouth twitched, "Alright" he conceded, "so _neither _of us have any reason to feel awkward. It's not like anything even happened" he shrugged. "So from now on we can just forget about it and be friends. Friendly acquaintances, agreed?" He held out his hand for her to shake.

Lucy took it and felt Sirius's dry hand clasp her own firmly for the second time. "Agreed" she replied.

Sirius grinned now, "Besides, sharing a bed is probably the best ice-breaker you can get." he said. "I'd say we know each other quite well now, wouldn't you?

"I thought Pete's eyes were going to fall out of his head this morning" he continued, amusement playing across his face. "I reckon James thinks we shagged or something, though he won't say. He won't give me the satisfaction of refusing to answer it."

He glanced at Lucy through the corner of his eye, "Besides" he said, provoking now, "We both know you couldn't get enough of me last night. Though I can't say I blame you."

Lucy raised her eyebrow. "Oh, of course" she agreed. "I go to sleep with all the men I really like. It's the ones I manage to stay awake with that should worry."

"…there are more of us?" Sirius exclaimed, feigning surprise.

Lucy held back a chuckle. "You're really nothing like I imagined you would be" she told him, before realising her mistake.

"How you imagined me?" Sirius replied, the ghost of his grin fading. "What are you talking about? We've only just met."

"I mean from last night" she saved quickly. "You seemed really different last night" she explained.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at her dubiously, "You're not much like I thought you were either" he admitted. "Actually, when I first met you, you seemed a bit uptight. I thought I was going to have to ply you with Firewhiskey just to get you out of your shell."

"Thanks..." Lucy replied.

"No, I mean seriously" Sirius continued, a devilish smile working it's way onto his face. "If I were to do something like this, for instance-" Sirius's hand shot out at the speed of light and pulled the hood from her jumper over her face.

"Hey" Lucy cried in surprise, her hands rushing to uncover her eyes while Sirius laughed loudly.

"It probably would've upset the girl I met last night" Sirius continued, a broad grin on his face. "I know now you can take a joke though."

Pulling it back into place Lucy stared back at him in disbelief. Without warning she reached a hand out, trying and failing to match his lightning quick speed.

Sirius backed himself easily out of her reach and climbed up onto the bed, his shoes treading on the blankets.

"Come on then" he dared her, beckoning with his fingers.

"You are so full of yourself" she said incredulously, looking up at him.

Reaching out a hand she dragged fiercely at his ankle bringing him crashing back down, backside first. He lay back, surprised, as she climbed up onto the bed and swatted out with her hands trying to wreak her revenge on his perfectly styled hair. But Sirius was fast, he wasn't about to let her have her own way that easily.

Sitting up he grabbed her wrists easily though she struggled against him. "You really are a little wild cat, aren't you?" he said in amused surprise.

Kneeling to one side of his body Lucy managed to free her arms, tinted pink from the scuffle, and bring them back down on his dense parted hair before he had a chance to stop them.

A second passed before he grabbed her offending hand, "Hey, enough already" he exclaimed.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him, "Now who's uptight?" she demanded smugly, giving a tug against his grip.

In a heartbeat Sirius had her pinned beneath him; his expression wild and challenging, and yet the roguish mirth was still there, like a hunter toying with it's catch.

A moment passed between them as they stared back into one another's faces before the Dormitory door swung back on it's hinges, hitting the wall forcefully and leaving the pair to look guiltily over.

James had burst into the room, in the midst of saying something that had Peter and Remus laughing. They all stopped abruptly when they laid eyes on the bed.

James raised his eyebrows, looking on speechless. His friend lying over one side of the strange girl they had caught him in bed with just that morning, leaning over to pin her appendages to the bedclothes.

"Ahem" Remus coughed pointedly, fighting back his amusement.

"Explain this one then, Sirius" James grinned. "I dare you." At this Peter giggled manically.

"Ahhh" Sirius sighed, looking down at a shell-shocked Lucy. "This probably doesn't look good, does it?" he addressed her in undertones. Lucy shook her head, "Not so much."

He climbed off the bed in one fluid motion, leaving Lucy to straighten her clothes and try to maintain what little dignity was left.

"You lot coming down to breakfast, or what?" he asked them casually, picking up his wand from the table and stowing it in his belt as he breezed from the room.

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks a lot for the kind reviews. After a week of absolutely revolting liquid penicillin four times a day (I'm ashamed to admit I gagged more than once) I am all better and raring to go. Next chapter should be coming soon.


	6. Soggy Cornflake

**So, this story is now called Marauding Reality, a more fitting name I think. Hope you like it!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

**'Soggy Cornflake'**

As they strode into the Great hall to get breakfast Lucy found herself on the receiving end of some very odd looks to say the least, not only because she was apparently a new student, but also because she seemed so familiar with the Marauders.

They took a seat and Lucy found herself amazed at the abundance of food, each dish arranged with inhuman intricacy.

One particular platter of pancakes and syrup seemed to defy gravity itself. Those House Elves certainly knew what they were doing.

Seeing everyone else tucking in she took a spoonful of what looked like fluorescent pink yoghurt into her bowl, tipping in some dried fruit and coconut. She had just brought the spoon to her lips when she felt something wet flop across her face.

She reached up to her cheek and picked off the culprit- a rather soggy cornflake. "Urgh" she moaned in disgust.

Lucy looked around, her gaze automatically drawn to Sirius. She was surprised to find him eating nothing more than an innocuous looking bacon and eggs. Sirius caught her eye and raised his overloaded fork with a grin before stuffing it into his mouth.

She found James didn't even so much as glance at her. She watched him take a large bite of a sausage and tomato sandwich before something caught her eye. Sitting next to James, Peter had just taken a large spoonful of a suspicious looking cereal.

Lucy's eyes narrowed at the small boy. She flung the offending cornflake back at him as forcefully as she could and it slopped on his forehead, before falling back into it's original place in his dish.

Peter looked at with an air of confusion, before shrugging and taking it in his next mouthful.

Sirius's booming laughter filled the air.

He grinned at Lucy before laughing again.

_"_I might have known" she muttered.

Picking up a yoghurt covered strawberry from her bowl she flung at Black, hitting him square on the cheek.

The whole hall gasped as one, apparently everyone had seen.

Sirius face dropped abruptly and without warning he scooped up an obscenely large amount of rice pudding with his hand and lobbed it back at her.

Lucy ducked reflexively and it sailed over her head slopping up the back of 7th year Ravenclaw, Andrew Evans' cloak.

Time seemed to stop as Andrew looked down at the mess on his back, and then over to their table.

Sirius bit his lip to avoid another burst of laughter.

Andrew grabbed a crusty jam filled roll from the Ravenclaw table and sent it flying with breakneck speed back at them. It landed slap bang in Peter's bowl of milk and made it splash all over his face.

There was a faint yell, which sounded suspiciously like James, of "Food fight!" before the entire hall erupted and there was food flying everywhere.

The teachers tried in vain to calm the situation down, but with Dumbledore not at breakfast they were having some trouble.

A piece of toast hit Remus on the back of his head and Lucy let out a snort of laughter. Remus looked at her stunned before scooping up his own porridge with his spoon and aiming it carefully at her.

"You wouldn't!" she cried in surprise. "You're supposed to be the sensible one!"

"I'm a Marauder…" he shouted back, over the hubbub of the warring hall. Lucy just had time to scrunch her eyes before the porridge hit her full in the face. Now Sirius really was laughing.

Lucy scraped off some of the porridge with her fingers and leant over the table. She slapped her oat coated hand on his smug face and dragged it down his cheek. A few more faint gasps from what seemed to be Sirius's fan club of girls came from further down the table.

Sirius made a show of laughing, but once he was sure everyone had went back to their own fight he leaned forwards and pinned her with his stare.

"I ought to make you lick it off," he murmured vehemently.

He ran his forefinger along the porridge that was still smeared on her cheek and sucked the tip of it.

"Not bad" he commented with a flick of his eyebrow.

Another piece of toast flew past their heads and landed butter side down on their table.

"Will you stop with the bloody toast?" Remus yelled to the hall, only to have another piece thwack the back of his robes.

Sirius decided he'd had enough of the food fight he'd helped to instigate and stood up, pulling Lucy by the hand and guiding her out of the warring hall. He pulled her at top speed as they ducked in and out of the food flinging students that had taken over the hall.

They passed Professor Sprout on their way out, shouting at the top of her lungs, desperately performing spells to stop the flying food and calm everyone down.

As Lucy and Sirius reached the exit they came to a stop just outside the doors and harms way.

Sirius eyes were positively sparkling with delight at the mutiny he had helped to create.

They both laughed when a fried tomato hit the glass of the hall door with a thump and a squelch.

A quiet cough from behind distracted their attention from the ensuing food fight, and they looked back only to find Dumbledore stood there looking composed as always. His eyes regarded them, a small smile on his face, but with an altogether reproachful expression.

"It would seem we have our first war within the walls of Hogwarts" he said, peering through the tomato smothered glass at his students running amok in the Great Hall. "Nothing to do with you Mr Black, I'm sure?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

Sirius smiled sheepishly. "Me?" he replied innocently.

Dumbledore looked at Lucy. "I take it you have made a decision regarding your Sorting, Miss Hamilton?"

"Yes I have" she replied, ignoring Sirius's questioning look. He had been unaware she had been given the choice. "I have decided to be Sorted just like any other student" Lucy said firmly.

x

Sirius looked from Dumbledore's retreating back to Lucy. "So you're going to be here for the long haul, I take it?" he asked, in reference to her being Sorted.

Lucy nodded. "It seems that way" she replied.

"What did Dumbledore say about you getting home then?" Sirius asked, choosing his words carefully.

"Nothing much" Lucy replied truthfully. "He didn't really know how I got here any more than we do, only that the glass dome, which is actually called a Clementrice by the way, made a connection with something I was holding or wearing at the time. Until we can find out what that was-"

"You can't get back" Sirius finished thoughtfully.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the floor, trying to remember if and what Lucy had been holding when they first saw her_, _but nothing sprang to mind.

"Do you have any idea of what it could've been?" he asked her. "Were you wearing anything different yesterday that could've caused it? Think back" he pressed.

Lucy tried to do as Sirius had requested and pictured herself sitting back at her classroom table; her teachers voice was drifting away. Without realising her fingers reached automatically for her forefinger.

This reflex did not go unnoticed by Sirius. He grabbed her hand and held it up. "A ring, perhaps? Were you wearing a ring?"

Lucy looked at him startled. "My Grandmothers ring" she said slowly. "But that's long gone" she said.

"Gone?" Sirius repeated, not understanding.

"I think I must've dropped it when you brought me here." Lucy trailed off into silence, her expression hopeless.

Sirius felt his arm twitch and was only mildly surprised when it wrapped itself around her, vaguely noticing how small she felt beneath his grasp.

His body convulsed a little in surprise when her arms wound their way around his back and held on tightly.

"How do I get back if the thing that brought me here is gone?"she muffled into his torso.

"Dumbledore always finds a way" Sirius told her, feeling a little awkward at the sudden serious turn of the conversation.

Lucy nodded briefly into his chest.

"I'm not sure I even want to go back," she whispered, not intending Sirius to hear.

He furrowed his brow, "Why wouldn't you want to go back?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Lucy mumbled, pretending not to hear. Sirius dropped the subject; he wasn't sure he wanted to hear her answer any more than she wanted to tell him.

* * *

><p>Next chapter one of my favourites, it introduces a new character to stir things up a bit.<p> 


	7. The Trick Stair

**Chapter 7**

**'The Trick Stair'**

"I'm going to have a shower" Sirius said when they pulled apart.

He lifted a piece of his long fringe and examined it. "For some reason I appear to have porridge in my hair." He shot Lucy a pointed look.

"You should really be more careful" she replied, forcing her mouth into a smile. "It's far too precious to squander in a humble food fight."

Sirius let a smile tug at the corner of his lips and started to walk away, after taking a few steps he turned back around to face her.

"Don't suppose you're feeling dirty enough to join me, are you?" he asked, a mischievous smirk spreading it's way across his face. He put one foot behind the other as he carried on walking backwards.

Lucy blinked. "I would love to" she replied.

"You would?" Sirius asked, pausing mid-step.

"…_but_ I have an appointment with Dumbledore" she continued with a smile.

Sirius nodded and smirked again. "Maybe next time then, eh?"

He let out a breath of air in a half laugh and shook his head, turning to jog in the direction of the showers.

xXx

Lucy really did want to see Dumbledore; in the midst of getting to realise how different this Sirius was in comparison to how she usually imagined him, she had completely forgotten to ask if she was due to be sitting in with the 7th year classes on Monday.

As she made her way to the Grand Staircase it dawned on her that she had no idea where Dumbledore's office actually was.

"Great. Now what," she muttered to herself, for there was no-one else around.

The way Lucy saw it she had one of two options, she could either go back to the Great Hall and ask either James, Remus or Peter to take her to his office, or she could make a go of finding it herself.

Lucy carried on resolutely, hoping she would eventually just stumble upon it.

Stepping foot on the staircase, her mind drifted unintentionally to images of a wet, slippery Sirius fresh from the shower.

She knew how arrogant it would make him if he knew where her thoughts had been and tried to brush them from her mind.

It was because of this that she did not notice when the staircase she was currently ascending began to move, nor immediately realise what was happening when her leg suddenly plunged lower than it should have done.

"Argh!"she cried out as she looked down to find her left leg had disappeared. Her heart skipped a beat when she sensed someone close behind her, but when she turned around the place was deserted.

"Just my luck" she muttered trying desperately to free her limb.

"I can't find Dumbledore's entire office, but I stumble on the one trick step". It had swallowed her leg whole to her thigh and the stone circled her skin painfully.

Panic started to creep in, what if no one came to find her? She pushed up on her arms once more and felt a sharp pain shoot up her trapped leg.

"Help! Is anyone there? I'm stuck..."

There was a moments silence before a male voice spoke directly behind her. She gave a start at his sudden closeness.

"Well well well" he said. "What have we here?" Lucy could tell from the tone he was smiling and mentally cursed whoever it was.

There was a beat, and then she felt firm hands hook themselves underneath her arms and pull her deftly upwards.

Swivelling round she faced her saviour and found a tall boy, one eyebrow raised and his mouth set into a maddening smug expression.

The first thing Lucy noticed were his hair and eyes, they were so dark they seemed unnatural, incongruent against his overly white skin tone. His thick black hair was spiked nearly all around his head, making his looks oddly striking.

"No wonder you fell through the step" he stated.

Lucy looked back at him non-plussed. "What?"

"Well do you always space out like that?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes; she didn't even know the boy and he was already passing a judgement on her, she looked around and on finding the rest of the staircase deserted decided to make a quick get away.

"I have to go" she said, ignoring his comment. "I'll see you around. Thanks" she added quickly, giving a half-heartedly wave over her shoulder as she walked away, but she was only halfway back up the stairs when she found the mysterious boy on her tail again, taking the steps two at a time with ease.

"Hey wait up spacegirl, where are you off to anyway?"

Lucy stopped and he followed suit. She turned to face him and shot him a look. "Spacegirl?"

He nodded. "Suits you, yeah?" he said with a grin and cocked eyebrow.

"I'm going to find Dumbledore," she said, restarting her pace.

"Oh..." He stopped his pursuit. "You do realise you're heading in the opposite direction, don't you? Dumbledore's office is back that way." He gestured. "I'll show you if you want?"

Lucy stopped. "I don't even know your name…"

"Ah, well I have unique remedy for that - my name's Tom. Thomas Boswell in full if you're feeling hard to please..." Lucy raised her eyebrow. "...which I sense you are…"

Tom leaned towards her ear, "this is the part where you tell me your name" he stage whispered.

Lucy looked at him dubiously before relenting. "My name's Lucy."

"Just Lucy?"

"Just Lucy"

"In that case it's nice to meet you 'Lucy- pretty, but sadly wanting in second name.'" He motioned for her to follow him. "Think I'll stick to calling you Spacegirl now in punishment for your vagueness."

"Great" she replied wearily.

Lucy sighed, if she really was going in the wrong direction she decided she may as well just go with this Thomas Boswell through fear of getting lost and ending up alone in some unknown corridor.

"Well try not to seem too happy being with me Spacegirl, I might actually think you thankful I saved you…" He continued sardonically.

Lucy cocked her jaw, "Ok, I'm sorry" she said reluctantly. "I've just been having a strange time of it lately."

Tom nodded. "Ah. Well say no more. I know how annoying it can be to have people ask what happened when you say you've had a bad day...

So, tell me, what happened to make your day bad?"

"I thought you knew better than to ask?" she replied dryly.

"I do, usually, but my curiosity won through- apparently it's stronger than I thought. Who knew?" he shrugged.

Lucy looked at him and felt a reluctant smile tug at the corner of her lips.

"So…Tom… I haven't seen you around before. Mind me asking what house you're in? Might help me place you."

"Not at all" he replied easily. "…But I'd prefer it if you'd guess." When Lucy glanced questioningly at him she saw he wore a devilish smile.

"Why?"

"Just interested what you will say I s'pose. Or it could just be a sly way of seeing what you think of me." He said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"The sneakiness of you. Why would you care?"

Tom shrugged, "I don't. It's for research purposes only."

"What, 'how many people think I'm a tosser when we first meet'? I have to tell you Tom, I could answer that easily right now," she half joked.

Tom gave her a look as if to say 'just do it'.

Lucy decided to play along. "Fine_"_ she said, pretending to measure him up thoughtfully.

"Well, from what I've seen of you earlier, and your evident deviousness just, I'd have to say…Slytherin."

Tom wore a look of utter shock, offended to say the least.

"Do you honestly think I'm in Slytherin?"he questioned.

After seeing his appalled face she decided to come clean. "No" she admitted, "I just wanted to mess with you."

Tom shook his head. "You're one sick puppy, do you realise that?"

xXx

They walked on silence for a while, still slightly awkward since the Slytherin comment.

Tom eventually yielded and broke the quiet, "I'm in Gryffindor by the way, in case you were wondering…"

"I was"

"And you?"

"Technically I don't have a house at the moment"

"What, are you new or something?" he asked surprised. Lucy nodded. "Well, I guess that would explain why I didn't recognise you then" Tom said.

"There are a lot of people in this school, there's a good chance you might've just never noticed me."

Tom looked over at her. "No there isn't" he said simply. "So when's your Sorting?"

"Hopefully as soon as possible, I'm sick of getting 'who the heck is she' looks from everyone"

Tom snorted but didn't say anything.

"I think most of them are because I'm hanging around with the Marauder's though. I don't think their fan club is too happy with my invasion on their territory."

Tom wore a shocked expression. "You're friendly with the Marauders?" he asked.

Sharing a bed with Sirius counted as friends, right? she wondered. She looked back at him, her eyes questioning. "Kind of. Why, what's the matter?"

Tom tried to look as if her revelation hadn't bothered him.

" Tom-" Lucy started.

"Seriously, it's nothing. Just shocked you're friends with a bunch of lads is all."

Lucy decided to drop it; he obviously wasn't going to tell her even if he did have a problem with them. Lucy briefly wondered what he thought of Sirius, but then she couldn't imagine any self- respecting boy _not_ liking Sirius.

xXx

Lucy and Tom continued their conversation until they stumbled upon the imposing gargoyle like guardians. She had been so wrapped up in their conversation she had not even noticed her destination approaching.

As usual Dumbledore seemed to have pre-empted her and was travelling down the moving staircase just as she reached it. Lucy wondered if it was just coincidence they should meet like this since she wouldn't have known the password had he not been there, but then nothing seemed to be coincidence where Dumbledore was concerned.

She started to say goodbye to Tom, but when she turned around she found he had gone. Lucy glanced around confused, she was starting to have serious doubts about her own sanity.

Dumbledore smiled. "Mr Boswell is a good student, perhaps despite first appearances. Do you mind me asking how the two of you met?"

"Oh, we just bumped into one another and started talking" she replied.

"I see." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled infamously. Lucy briefly wondered if he was aware of her rather ungraceful fall through the stairs.

"In that case, may I be of any service to you?"

Lucy swallowed. "I actually wanted to talk to you about sitting in on 7th year lessons on Monday, in as much as I would like to really."

xXx

Later that evening the four Marauders and Lucy entered the Great hall after a chance meeting on her way back from the office. Dumbledore had told Lucy she was to be Sorted that evening as there was no reason to delay matters.

She had agreed purely to get it out of the way before she had to face everyone Monday morning. Hopefully it would pre-empt any awkward questions about who she was and what she was doing there.

As they took their seats Dumbledore hushed the Great Hall with one raised hand and began to speak. "As you may already be aware we have a new face in our midst."

A few people glanced in her direction.

"She has travelled from Beauxbatons to observe how things are done here at Hogwarts" Dumbledore continued, twisting the truth a little. "We are as yet unaware for how long. Nevertheless I hope you will all make her feel as welcome as possible as she finds her feet in our school." There was a murmur of accord.

"Now you have probably already noticed the Sorting Hat is out, so without further ado would Miss Lucy Hamilton care to take to the stage and be Sorted!" Dumbledore said the last part with a relish.

Since Lucy had been sitting with the Gryffindors that morning the other students had presumed she had already been Sorted, so naturally it came as a shock to find out otherwise. There was a muted hubbub as Lucy stepped out from her seat.

As she approached the Sorting Hat and Dumbledore, she had an inkling that the Marauder's female fan club were wishing for nothing more than for her to be placed in Slytherin. That would surely put an end to any relationship she could have with any of the boys.

She sat herself nervously on the stool and felt McGonagall rest the hat on her head.

It animated somewhat alarmingly and Lucy could sense it rummaging around in her mind, searching through her deepest darkest desires.

A deep rumbling filled Lucy's ears she felt sure no-one else could hear, it appeared to be inside her head and yet at the same time didn't belong to her. The hat had begun to do its job.

An inexplicable sixth sense told her it was about to call out Ravenclaw and, despite her earlier daydreams tirelessly placing her in Gryffindor, she found herself content with this.

That was until Sirius caught her eye; he grinned back at her broadly.

The hat seemed to listen patiently to her inner turmoil and at the idea of the 'brave at heart Gryffindor' delved even further into the recesses of her mind, until it felt as though it would know all of her darkest secrets. It was relentless, examining her aspirations and potential again and again.

After what felt like forever it finally shouted out "Gryffindor!"

Lucy let out a sigh of relief while the Hall erupted and heard Sirius and James chanting her name loudly, banging their hands on the table. "Lu-cy Lu-cy Lu-cy"

Soon the entire Gryffindor table had joined in.

She took the hat off carefully and began to step down from the stool when she noticed something appear to fall from its midst onto the floor. She looked carefully at it for a second before bending down with a cautious hand to pick it up- it looked like a broken off branch from a willow tree.

As she examined it Dumbledore caught her eye and gave her a smile.

Lucy quickly stowed the long, light bough through a loop in her belt. She didn't know why, but he had given her a wand.

As she walked to the Gryffindor table she found her insides squirming as they continued to chant her name. Lily smiled warmly at her as Lucy walked past her and James, mouthing a quick "well done".

Swiftly taking a seat in the space Sirius had saved she saw him grin broadly. "Welcome to the best house!" he called over the chatter.

He glanced around at the applauding table still clapping his chant, allowing his eyes to pass briefly from one smiling face to the next.

He found they were drawn back to a strange dark haired boy, who seemed to be the only one not joining in. The boy just sat there smiling, clapping slowly and deliberately. He seemed to be watching something, or someone intently. Sirius followed the boy's eyeline straight back to Lucy.

Sirius eyebrows furrowed. He thought he knew all of the Gryffindors at least by sight, but couldn't seem to recognise this one.

He glanced back at Lucy only to find her returning the boy's smile.

"Hey Prongs" Sirius caught his friend's attention. "Who's that?" he asked, gesturing rather obviously at the smiling boy, who seemed not to notice.

"The black haired bloke? That's Tom. He's a substitute beater on our Quidditch team, can hit 'em pretty hard too."

James' revelation sparked a murmur of irritation from somewhere inside Sirius's gut, but he only nodded carelessly back at his friend.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: What do you make of Tom so far? If you're interested how I imagine him to look, see a PG rated Sid Vicious. Next chapter involves an argument between two of the characters, though I'm not saying who. Review if you want an update! Thanks.


	8. Accio Dignity

**Chapter 8**

**'Accio Dignity'**

A great red and gold firework zoomed towards the high ceiling of the Gryffindor Common Room and exploded triumphantly, shards of light swirling into the shape of their House emblem; the profile of a rearing lion.

A loud cheer erupted, the Marauders making sure they were the loudest supporters of them all.

James grinned over at Sirius, the celebration they'd thrown together for Lucy's sorting was turning out extremely well and the alcohol they'd smuggled from the Hogshead an act of sheer brilliancy, but three hours on and it was obvious his friend was really very, very drunk.

The lion marked the official end of the indoor fireworks, food treats, assorted alcohol for the seventh years, and generally raucous behaviour that had been ongoing since they'd left the Great Hall and the students had started to drift to bed.

Each student had a pat on the back for at least one of the four boys as he or she vacated the room.

"Night Siri" a pretty black haired girl called over, throwing him a flirtatious smile. Sirius raised his near empty bottle in greeting.

"Night Amanda" he answered, his voice a little slurred.

"It's Mary" she corrected, clearly offended.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

Mary huffed off to bed.

James laughed and slapped Sirius on the back. "Have I ever mentioned how hilarious you are when you're drunk?" he asked with a grin. "Priceless."

A hazy smile crossed Sirius's face. "I'm going to pay for that in the morning, aren't I?" he asked lazily.

James nodded happily. "Yep. Mary won't let you forget that slight in a hurry."

xXx

Lily turned to Lucy, "I'm absolutely shattered" she said. "Are you coming up to the Head Dorm with me tonight, or is Sirius going to force you into his bed again?" She smiled a small smile.

Lucy's insides squirmed. "You heard about that then?" she asked, a new flush creeping across her already alcohol warmed cheeks.

Lily nodded apologetically. "James might've mentioned it a few... hundred... times."

"To be honest I don't know where I'm sleeping tonight" Lucy replied. "I don't think any of us have really had much time to think about it."

Despite her initial attraction to him, the idea of spending the night with a drunken Sirius felt dangerous, especially when she had had a fair few Firewhiskey's herself.

She looked over her shoulder and found him and James a metre behind them, talking amongst themselves, Peter loitering just to one side looking a bit left out. Sirius's eyes were glazed.

The two girls made their way over to Remus, who had seated himself on the chairs by the fireplace nursing a Butterbeer. He was clearly stone cold sober.

"Hey Remus" Lily said as they sat down.

Remus looked up and smiled pleasantly, "Hello ladies" he greeted with a warm smile.

"Welcome to Gryffindor, Lucy" he toasted, raising his bottle and taking a swig.

"Cheers to that" Sirius seemed to cut in from nowhere, flopping himself on the nearest seat next to Lily.

"Swap" James said as he walked over, and Sirius rolled his eyes but obligingly moved so James could sit next to his girlfriend.

Lucy shifted slightly so Sirius could sit down, very aware of how much his body was pressed up against hers as they all tried to squeeze onto one couch.

He raised his squashed arm up to give them more room and put it carelessly around the back of her head, a waft of his cologne drifting to her nose.

Sirius looked around at the nearly empty Common Room disdainfully. "Some people have no resilience," he commented, shaking his head.

He threw his bottle into the fire where it dissolved magically into ashes at once. "I say we play a game."

"Cheers to that!" James replied jovially. "What did you have in mind?"

Sirius rolled his eyes "I don't have a game in _mind, _Prongs" he slurred slightly, "I'm far too drunk."

"Apparently so..." Remus agreed with a raised eyebrow.

"I have a game" Lily cut in, glancing at Lucy.

She leaned over to her and whispered it to her.

"Share it with the class!" James exclaimed.

"Truth or Dare" Lily told him, a rebellious look in her eye.

"Truth or Dare it is!" With that James pulled open a dragon shot glass and downed it. "Now, what exactly is truth or dare?" he asked, once he had swallowed the bright green liquid with a wince.

"Sounds like Muggle claptrap to me" Sirius sounded off. "No offence girls" he added, gesturing to the two pairs of offended eyes boring his way.

"Well actually it is a Muggle game, yes Sirius" Lily answered him sounding defiant. "And if you don't want to join in you're more than welcome to go to bed and sleep off the nasty hangover that is sure to be hurtling it's way to you tonight."

Sirius batted a hand. "Don't be like that" he said. "I like Muggles, but you have to admit they have some odd ways about them."

"Thanks" Lucy commented dryly.

Sirius looked underneath his arm at her and gave her a charming smile. "You're the exception obviously" he said, shooting her a quick wink.

"Besides, I'm always up for a game" he told Lily, "you know that."

Lily nodded skeptically and explained the basic ins and outs of it, unsure if Sirius was really registering a word.

"So" she continued "One example of a dare would be 'ride a broom bareback'."

At this the boy's looked intrigued.

"So you're telling me that if I told..." Sirius glanced around and his eyes landed on Peter sat opposite, who gave a start at being singled out. "If I told Pete here to parade around the castle as naked as the day he was born, he would have to do as I say?"

"Them's the rules" James said, clearly enjoying himself.

Lily laughed despite herself . "There are boundaries obviously" she clarified, aware that she wouldn't want to see Peter carry out that particular dare even if he agreed to. "Don't ask anyone to do anything you wouldn't want to do yourself" she said.

"That's just boring" Sirius replied baldly.

"Well, your bed's waiting for you if you don't want-"

"Fine fine" Sirius sighed. "I'll behave."

"Right, so shall we begin…?" Lily asked.

There was a mumbled acquiesce and she nodded, satisfied.

"I'll go first then, shall I?" she said. "We can go anti-clockwise from there. Right, Remus!"

Remus jumped slightly, he had not expected Lily to pick on him.

"Truth or Dare?" she smiled wickedly.

"Er, erm…Truth I suppose" Remus knew Lily well enough to know she would never broach the topic of his furry little problem.

"Ok, truth. In that case, have you ever thought about any girl in our school as anything more than a friend during your time here?"

The rest of the boys made noises of appreciation and "oooh's".

"What Lily meant to say is have you ever had any red blooded kink-fest dreams about any girl" James corrected with a devillish grin.

"N-" Remus started to decline before Sirius cut in.

"Don't bother trying to tell us you haven't Remus" he said. "Not even you're _that_ pure."

"Fine" Remus replied impatiently. "There may have been one or two occasions where a thought has crossed my mind. Satisfied?"

Everyone looked at him in disbelief, he had never admitted that befor_e._

"I think you'll find you have to tell us who the mysterious lady is Moony" James sang.

"I think not" Remus retorted. "The question was, and I quote 'Have you ever thought about any girl', Lily did not ask for specifics...Thank Merlin" he added in an undertone.

James looked put out. "He has foiled us with his deviousness" he pouted.

Lucy glanced at Remus, intrigued, and was surprised to find him glancing at Lily more often than usual, his face a pale hue of red.

"Go Remus!" Sirius pressed his friend to hurry up and take his turn.

"Fine, I dare James to kiss Lily" Remus said, tired of the game that had turned against him.

"Oh, that's just dull! A shameful show of imagination" Sirius admonished.

"Seconded" James agreed. "Call yourself a Marauder? Not that I'm complaining of course" he added with a smile. James leant over and planted a deep kiss on Lily's lips. It seemed that she wasn't complaining either.

"Next!" James shouted loudly as he pulled away, "and I think you'll find it's me" he grinned.

"Sirius! Truth or dare?"

Sirius didn't even need to consider. "Dare, naturally"

"Ok, well in that case I dare you to kiss…Pete." James looked smug, but there was a sound of disapproval in the ranks and Peter looked worried.

"James, you can't dare Sirius to kiss Peter" Lily admonished. "As much as he might want to…"

"Hey-" Sirius interrupted, but Lily just smiled sweetly.

"Fine, kiss Moony then."

"James, no!" she scolded.

"Ok ok, Merlin, you're so touchy!" He looked around and found his eyes land on the new girl, Lucy- the only person left.

A knowing smirk worked it's way onto James's lips. So far he had found her and Sirius in bed together, he had found them on top of one another, and now he would uncover what was really going on between them whether his friend liked it or not.

"Sirius, I dare you to kiss Lucy" James said, the smirk still plastered across his face.

Sirius seemed taken aback, lifting his resting arm slightly and looking down at Lucy as if only now properly aware she was under there.

His eyes roamed over her features, scrutinising them as though weighing up if he actually wanted to kiss her. The drink had made his thought process slow and laboured.

Finally he lowered his face towards hers, pausing every so often to search for a reaction in her eyes, before glancing back down at the lips he would have to meet.

Everyone in their small group held their breath, and Lucy could see every last perfect detail of Sirius Black's face drawing painfully slowly toward her own.

An overpowering stench of alcohol reminiscent of vodka seemed to be clinging to his breath as she felt it soft and slow against her face.

At the last moment the arm Sirius had been resting on seemed to collapse underneath him and his ready mouth missed it's target, the fresh drink he had been holding spilling it's contents all over the both of them.

His friends looked on agape at the car crash viewing.

Sirius seemed to sober immediately at the touch of the cold drink down his front and Lucy threw her hands out reflexively.

He shook his head, patting reflexively at his ruined top. "Shit" he muttered. In one movement he was up, unbuttoning the wet shirt.

"I'm going to bed" he muttered, walking toward the dormitory staircase, ridding his body of the wet top and slinging it over his bare shoulder.

"See you lot tomorrow" he called back half heartedly,

"But Sirius mate, it's your turn to…"

Sirius was gone before James could finish.

xXx

"That was...strange" Lily said when he was gone.

Lucy looked baffled, unsure of exactly what had just happened.

"I think Sirius has had one too many drinks even for his high threshold tonight" Remus said, leaning forward and clasping his hands together over his knees.

"He'll be alright in the morning" he reassured Lucy kindly. "It's probably best he goes up and sleeps it off."

"Scourgify" Lily stated, pointing her wand at the mess on Lucy's t-shirt. Within seconds it had evaporated into nothingness.

"Thanks" Lucy muttered.

I'm off to bed anyway" Remus sighed.

"Yeah, me too I think" James said, looking a bit awkward. He stood up and stretched out, giving his own hair a perfunctory ruffle. "I'm knackered."

Soon all the boys had made their excuses.

"Hey Lucy" Lily touched Lucy's arm gently to get her attention.

Lucy looked around sharply, lost in thought, "Yes?" she answered.

"I was just going to say, you're more than welcome to come and stay with me tonight if you don't fancy it up there with them" the redhead offered kindly.

"No, no I'll be fine honestly" Lucy assured her.

"Are you sure?" Lily questioned. "If you change your mind-"

"I will be sure to let you know" Lucy finished.

Lily didn't look as if she believed her, but didn't want to say anything that might start a disagreement.

"'Night then" she said reluctantly, retreating from the room.

"'Night Lily"

Lucy waited for Lily to leave for bed before looking at the settee. She would just have to sleep there tonight, she wasn't in the mood to be watched over all night. For the first time since she had arrived there she felt the dull ache of homesickness.

xXx

As she lay back in the deserted Common Room Lucy felt something dig into her stomach sharply and looked down to find the wand that had fallen out of the Sorting Hat earlier that evening, still looped in her belt. It seemed like so long ago now.

She had no idea what had gotten into Sirius tonight but his strange turn in behaviour had definitely given her some food for thought.

She felt unsure now of who she had really been attracted to all this time; the Sirius she had been around since she had arrived there, or her perfectly behaved daydream version.

Lucy pulled the wand from her belt and twisted it in her fingers. The light brown wood was basic and smooth, it's handle the only decorative part. She swished it nonchantly, pretending it would work for her.

She still couldn't understand what had been going through Dumbledore's mind when he given it, she had absolutely no magical abilities. In her hands it was nothing more than an, undoubtedly intricate, toy.

"Accio nightclothes," she chanted at the stairs, flourishing the wand with a professional air.

Unsurprisingly nothing happened. Lucy let out a breath of laughter. "Stupid" she berated herself.

She had just started to fluff the chair's cushions when she spotted something moving in her peripheral vision. Something was floating eerily over to her in the dim light.

She reached out and took levitating pyjama top in her arms; it was the same one she had worn the night before. The firelight dancing off the brightly coloured phoenix emblem, winking at her.

Bewildered and amazed all at the same time she looked down at it as if it would suddenly disappear and prove that she really was going insane. It seemed as though her spell had _worked_.

What she did not realise, however, was that at that precise moment Remus Lupin had made his way upstairs and noticed the clothes Lucy had slept in lying on the floor by his friend's bed. Doubting she would be sleeping with them tonight, he had thoughtfully sent them down to her.

xXx

She had just started to drift when she heard her name; it was soft at first as though part of a dream, but gradually it became louder and more persistent.

She prised open her sleepy eyes to find a mass of darkness looming in front of her. A brief cry escaped her lips before it spoke.

"Hey... hey" said the shadow. "It's just me, calm down."

In the flickering firelight Lucy could just about make out the face of Thomas Boswell inches from her own.

He backed up slightly. "Lucy, I thought it was you. What are you doing sleeping down here?" he asked, confused.

Lucy thought carefully before she spoke. "I, er, I was a little tipsy. I must've drifted off…"she trailed off.

Tom blinked before holding out his hand. "Come with me" he stated.

"What, where?"

"You can take my bed, I'll sleep on the floor. You can't sleep on a chair for Merlins sake."

Lucy shook her head. She found herself experiencing a rather severe case of déjà vu.

"No. I'm fine, honestly. I know it looks bad but it's actually really comfortable." There was no way would she risk having another Sirius on her hands, one was bad enough.

Tom looked at her dubiously. "I can't just leave you down here."

"I'll be fine" Lucy tried to reassure him.

"I'm sleeping down here with you then" he said firmly.

"What is it with you lot?" she snapped without thinking.

Tom seemed affronted by her outburst.

"Sorry Tom. I'll be ok down here on my own. Please, please go up to bed."

Tom shook his head. "You have a choice Spacegirl, you can either come up with me, or I'm sleeping the chair opposite you." Apparently he too could be extremely stubborn when he wanted to.

"You actually don't give up do you?" she murmured tiredly.

Tom just smiled, "Nope, I always get what I want."

"Fine" Lucy relented, "But make yourself scarce in the morning, for both our sakes."

Tom batted a careless hand, "Yeah yeah."

"Where were you during the party by the way?" she questioned while he chose his makeshift bed for the night. "I didn't see you around."

Tom looked back at her with a mischievous grin, "Why, did you miss me?" he asked, ignoring her question.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You wish" she replied.

Tom laughed. "Maybe" he shrugged.

He slumped as he was in a nearby arm chair and folded his arms.

"You know, you did good today" he told her.

"I'm sorry?"

"In your Sorting, you did good." The corner of his mouth tugged upwards. "You actually managed to look as though you liked all that attention"

Lucy nodded. "Oh."

"Welcome to Gryffindor, Spacegirl" he said, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "Or should I say _Hamilton._" He smirked a little and peered at her through one eye, her earlier refusal to tell him her last name rendered pointless.


End file.
